Cytogenetics ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; genetics

Objective To investigate the role of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in sinusoidal capillarization in liver cirrhotic rats. Methods The SD rats were intraperitoneally injected with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) twice a week for 8 weeks to induce liver cirrhosis. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group (n= 10), model control group (n= 15) and rofecoxib treated group (received 10 mg/kg of rofecoxib daily, n = 15). Liver histopathology was examined by light microscopy, and sinusoidal ultrastructure was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, the level of basement membrane proteins (collagen type Ⅳ, laminin) and their localizations in liver were determined by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry, respectively, and the microvessel density was detected following vWF (yon Willebrand factor) immunolabeling on liver tissue sections. Results Fibrotic areas were reduced in rofecoxib treated group compared with that in model group (30.7±8.9 vs 23.5±6.5,P<0. 05). The light and electron microscopy showed that the pathologic changes including loss or reduction in number of sinusoidal endothelial fenestrate, the accumulation of extracellular matrix in the Disse's space and development of subendothelial basal lamina (basement membrane formation) were more severe in model group than those in rofecoxib treated group. Compared with model group, administration of rofecoxib resulted in significant decrease in microvessel density (11.3 ± 1.6 vs. 6.4 ±0. 7, P<0. 01). Rofecoxib could significantly decrease the expression of type Ⅳ collagen and laminin at protein levels (3.0±0.5 and 3.0±0.5, respectively) when compared with model group (3.8±0.4 and 3.7±0. 5, respectively). Conclusion The results indicate that early administration of rofecoxib may reduce sinusoidal capillarization.

Objective To investigate the role of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX 2) in the forming of portal hypertension and whether a selective COX 2 inhibitor can reduce the portal hypertension or not. Methods Cirrhotic Sprague Dawley rat was induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4) intraperitoneally for 8 weeks. The animals were divided into three groups: 10 normal rats served as control group; the other 15 rats, which received CCl 4 intraperitoneally twice a week and rofecoxib (10 mg/kg) by gavages daily, served as treatment group; another 15 rats, which were induced cirrhosis by CCl 4 but given placebo (saline solution ) instead of rofecoxib, served as placebo group. After 8 weeks of CCl 4 induction, portal pressure was measured, and the levels of thromboxane B 2 (TXB 2), and prostaglandin (PG)E 2 in the liver tissues were determined by enzyme immunoassay. Furthermore, liver histopathological analysis was performed in H E and Masson's trichrome staining sections. Results Portal pressure in the rats of rofecoxib group was significantly decreased compared to that in the placebo group [(11.95?1.05) mm Hg vs. (13.45?1.15) mm Hg; P

recurrence of half a year.Results The rate of symptom improvement in D group was significantly better than the other three groups(P <0.05).Over time,there was no statistical difference between four groups.The recurrence rate of D group (0.00%)was obviously lower than A group (11.76%),the B group (2.00%)and the C group (3.85%)(P <0.05).Conclusion Microscope with the traditional Chinese medicine is a good choice in preventing postoperative the rate of symptom and recurrence.

Objective To investigate the expression of integrin avβ3 in both of hepatic stellate cell (HSC)and fibrotic liver tissue,and to demonstrate whether integrin avβ3 is a phenotypical receptor of activated HSC.Methods HSC were isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats and activated by prolonged cultural.The rats were injected with 175 mg of thioacetamide twice a week for 12 weeks to induce liver fibosis.The expressions of avβ3 and a-SMA were identified by immunocytochemical staining.The expression of avβ3 in HSC,normal and fibrotic tissues were examined by real-time PCR and Western blot.Results The expression of avβ3 in activated HSC were up regulated and levels of mRNA and protein were increased to 18 and 5.2 folds on day 14 compared with day 1 and were also higher than control(t=2.39,P＜0.05;t=2.74,P＜0.05).The immunochemistry staining showed that integrin avβ3 was expressed on membrane of activated HSCs.The avβ3 and a-SMA were expressed in portal vein in normal liver,but were also expressed in portal and fibrotic.Conclusions The integrin avβ3 is up-regulated in activated HSC both in vitro and in vivo.It is a phenotypical receptor of activated HSC which involved in liver fibrosis.

Objective To evaluate the parametric features of image textures on 18F-FDG PET/CT for the differentiation between malignant and benign pulmonary nodules and compare the diagnostic performance of these parameters with SUVmax.Methods 18F-FDG PET/CT images of 170 patients (102 males,68 females,age range:29-81 (mean 59)years) with pulmonary nodules were retrospectively evaluated.Eightynine pulmonary nodules (230 slices) were malignant and 81 (193 slices) were benign.The pulmonary nodules were contoured on CT images and mapped to the co-registered PET images.Thirteen parameters of textural features were extracted and SUVmax was measured.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the significant texture parameters and create a regression model.The efficacy of the textural features and SUVmax to distinguish between malignant and benign pulmonary nodules was evaluated by ROC curve analysis.The textural features of squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma were compared via the Mann-Whitney u test.The sensitivity and specificity of the textural features and SUVmax for the differential diagnosis were compared with x2 test.Results Logistic regression model identified 4 textural features (skewness (β =1.7058),kurtosis (β =-1.0989),angular second moment (ASM,3 =-4.4140) and strength (β =0.5626) ; all P ＜ 0.05) to have significant correlation with the malignancy of lung nodules.The AUC of ROC curve was 0.775 (95％ CI0.732-0.819; P＜0.001) with the sensitivity of 89.6％ (206/230) and specificity of 50.8％ (98/193).ASM and strength had statistically significant differences between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma [ASM:0.0303 (95％ CI 0.0392-0.0724) vs 0.0594 (95％ CI 0.0721-0.0947) ; strength:2.4714 (95％ CI 2.4632-4.1050) vs 1.5945 (95％ CI 1.9003-2.4652) ; u =3082.0 and 3115.0,both P＜0.01].The AUC of SUVmax-based diagnosis was 0.757 (95％ CI 0.711-0.802 ; P ＜ 0.001) with the sensitivity of 80.9 ％ (186/230) and specificity of 50.3 ％ (97/193) at a cut-off value of 2.5.The sensitivity of the textural features was superior to SUVmax in differentiating malignant from benign pulmonary nodules (x2 =6.903,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Image textural parametric features extracted from 18 F-FDG PET/CT are more sensitive to differentiate between malignant and benign pulmonary nodules compared to SUVmax.They might also be useful to discriminate between different pathological types of lung cancers.

Physiological monitoring devices in modern clinical area are basically used electrodes or sensors directly touching the surface of human subject body, which will increase physiological and psychological load of the subjects. In order to realize non-contact monitoring of respiration and heartbeat, firstly, the micro bioradar was used to detect human body motion signal. Then, the respiration signal and heartbeat signal was extracted from the body-motion signal by using signal and conditioning circuits, digital filter and signal processing. Finally, the results of heart rate and breathing rate was wirelessly transmitted. The experimental results showed that the device for non-contact monitoring of respiration and heartbeat waveforms has advantages of small volume, low power consumption, which can realize the monitoring of physiological parameters in real time.
Heart Rate ; Humans ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; instrumentation ; Respiration ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted

Objective: To investigate the electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics, cerebral blood fl ow, glucose metabolism, and pathological characteristics in cats kindled by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ). Methods: Ten adult male cats received intramuscular injections of PTZ at a sub-convulsive dose of 25 mg/kg once daily. Cats were considered to be kindled when a class V or above seizure was observed. Subsequently, scalp EEG, 99mTc-ECD-single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), 18FDG-positron emission tomography (PET), and Cresyl violet staining were employed to evaluate brain activity, cerebral blood fl ow, glucose metabolism, and pathological characteristics representing epileptic foci during interictal stages. Results: The EEG data revealed bilateral dissymmetry paroxysmal activity in the form of δ and θ waves, as well as paroxysmal spikes and sharp waves instead of symmetric highamplitude rhythm of 8-12 Hz in cats kindled by PTZ compared to controls. In addition, low blood perfusion and low glucose metabolism unilaterally in the temporal lobe were observed in PTZ-kindled cats, in contrast to the bilateral symmetrical blood perfusion and high glucose metabolism observed in control cats. Pathological examinations showed a thickening of white matter in the ipsilateral temporal region and a thinning of gray matter in PTZ-kindled cats. Microscopically, we observed a structure disturbance of hippocampal CA3 area in PTZ-kindled cats. Conclusion: Epileptic foci of PTZ-kindled cats were localized to the unilateral temporal lobe, in a manner highly similar to the pathophysiology of human temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective To analyze the microRNA-155 (miR-155) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),and to assess its correlation with clinicopathological parameters and its prognostic significance.Methods MiR-155 expression was detected in specimens of HCC and its adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues in 124 HCC patients by real-time PCR.The expression was also detected in different HCC cell lines.The Kaplan-Meier Curve was used to analyze survival of HCC patients.Gain-and loss-of-function studies were used to determine whether miR-155 impact cell cycle,cell proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells.Results Expression of miR-155 in HCC tissues was significantly elevated when compared with that in the adjacent non-tumor liver tissues (P ＜ 0.05).MiR-155 expression was significantly higher in different HCC cell lines (P ＜ 0.05) than that in normal liver cells.MiR-155 overexpression was significantly correlated with large tumor size (P ＜ 0.05),high histological grade (P ＜ 0.05) and advanced tumor stage (P ＜ 0.05).Patients with high miR-155 expression had significantly decreased overall survival (P ＜ 0.05) and disease-free survival (P ＜ 0.05).Upregnlation of miR-155 promoted cell cycle transition from G1 to S phase (P ＜ 0.05),increased cell proliferation (P ＜ 0.05) and apoptosis resistance (P ＜ 0.05) in Hep3B cells.Downregulation of miR-155 resulted in G1 arrest,apoptosis promotion and proliferation reduction in SMMC-7721 cells (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion MiR-155 can be used as a prognostic marker for HCC patients,and target therapy on miR-155 can be used as a potential option to prevent HCC progression.

Objectives: By observing and evaluating the clinical curative effect systematically of electrical acupuncture (EA) on Tianshu (ST 25) on diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS), to make it benefit for the application and spread of EA on Tianshu (ST 25)on D-IBS. Methods: 103 D-IBS matched the involved standards were allocated into treatment group (EA on ST 25, n=53) and control group (EA on Daheng, SP 15, n=50) in randomized,controlled and single-blind ways. Curative effect differences were analyzed by Ridit analysis.Results: The incidence of diarrhea, abdominal pain, abdominal distention or abdominal discomfort, borborygmus, defecation urgency and defecation incompletion feeling were 100%,89.3%, 71.8%, 74.8%, 83.5% and 78.6% respectively in D-IBS. Generally, after treatment, 11cases got excellent results, 34 cases improved and 8 failed in treatment group, totally effective rate was 84.9%; while in control group, 4 cases got excellent effects, 26 improved and 20 failed,totally the effective rate was 60.0%. Conclusion: Compared with control group, EA on Tianshu (ST 25) has a better curative effect on D-IBS.